Hriwfirith o Doriath
by Elvenson
Summary: After the Dwarves ransacked Menegroth, and Beren rclaimed the Silmaril, Dior became King and after Luthien's death inherited the Gem of Feanor...but it was but the beginning of the end.


_My version of the ruin of Doriath which is beautifully written in 5 pages, in my edition of the Sil. Though this has more dialouge and detail. I do take liberties with elven politics after the fall of Doriath but I think it worked to the story's advatnage, after all politics was something not exactly detailed in Tolkien's works_

_All characters are those of Tolkien and his creation. Some OC's are of my creation, these are mostly names that are other wise unknown. Please Read AND Review. thanks...Enjoy!_

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The light upon the hill arose in a pillar of radiant golden red, welcoming autumn's change with reluctance and greed, though to be utterly truthful the _Eglath_ ever enjoyed the time of winter, when, even though the trees slept and all were gathered in the mountain hall, it was a time of merriment, of joy and of seeing friends long gone. It was not so now, though once again there were smiling faces around the great hearth there were far too few people there, far too few... The Prince smiled here and there when greeted by others, but his eyes were too filled with sorrow to truly bring joy to those who gathered at the welcoming of autumn. The King, well the _Eluchil _tried his best to fit in the throne of his grandfather and tried to perform the autumnal ceremonies with all of his skill, but it was not the same. That same earthen voice did not fill the sky when it sang the welcome to the Change of Seasons, and the giver of gentle rest. And the lady at his side was not the mother the Sindar had all known, who sang as she circled the grand fire, and made the mists of the coming winter flee before her hands and unveil the stars undimmed as they were seen at Cuivienen. There would be no dance around the fire, no singing of joys unnumbered- yes, there was a king again in Doriath, but it was not the same…

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Years passed since those fateful days, Menegroth was again rebuilt to its former glory; the doors were remade, only now with iron and brass, than with wood. The march-wardens were swelled to great numbers now, circling where the Girdle once stood, and those few who lived on the borders were moved closer to Menegroth, into the fastness of defense, and they began to loathe the curfews set upon them. Yet Dior Eluchil, ruled justly in those days, and any unrest was solved as though Thingol was again upon the throne, though it took longer for the youngKing to come to the conlusion his grandfather would have reached in a few hours of debate with his counselors. 

While the king ruled the northern lands without contest, Celeborn held greater sway in the south, and that land was divided between those who would follow him first rather than the young Dior, who many said was too "mortal" to truly be king, be he Luthien's child or no. No matter how much they to the south regarded and revered their princess, her son was held with an eye of suspicion, especially when age began to show upon his face, far sooner than any had expected. Civil war, however, was not in their minds, loyal to the king they remained, save in the courts where Celeborn's word alone they held true. Even amongst them was division for Oropher and Amdir of the outer clans contested the Silver prince's right to rule beside the king, for he was wed to an outsider, a usurper of their lands in Beleriand, an action, which they disapproved of despite the Aran's acceptance of the union.

So did the kingdom of Doriath lay after the death of Elu Thingol and the leaving of Melian the Maia; to the East of Menegroth, between the rivers Esgalduin and Aros, in the woods of Region, lay the forces and people of Dior: Laiquendi by birth, from the lands of Ossiriand where Luthien and Beren lived; alongside them were those of more noble birth and closest to the court of Thingol, outside of the princes in the West. Also with him stood the esteemed bowmen under Beleg, who had not returned in many years and was feared taken by death or worse.

To the West lay three major realms beneath the banner of the King. Closest to Menegroth, in the beloved Forest of Neldoreth and southward to the fens of Sirion and Aelin-uial lay the lands beneath the banner of Celeborn and his lady Galadriel held by the forces once under Mablung the lost, and Elorn, the Prince's herald. Along with them stood the Elmoth and those among the eldest of they who founded Doriath and forsook the Great Journey for their beloved King. The lands beneath the banners of Amdir and Oropher lay west of Sirion to the river Teiglin and as far south as Amon Rudh, though seldom did any choose to live as far as that red-capped hill. Amdir held the majority of the southern realm beneath Amon Obel and Oropher the northern march within sight of the Ered Gorgoroth. The people governed by Amdir and Oropher were of the younger generations, born ere the sun rose, and those who most dearly loved the life free from the courts of the New King. Their riders and horsemen were the fastest of the Teleri, and they alone of that mighty clan could compete with the Noldor in horsemanship; yet to Celeborn and his people the charge was left for the sending of messengers, for Aelin-uial and it's bridge was part of the Silver-Tree's realm and closest to the Avernien where it was said that Cirdan and his people had fled.

It was in this manner that on one night, in the dead of winter, when all were housed in Menegroth and the divisions mentioned above were lessened that a rider passed through the fence held in the northeastern lands, a rider dressed in green.

When he was allowed entrance to the great hall, the elves of Neldoreth were dancing with garlands of holly and _thingolodh,_ in their hair, braided with ribbons of blue, gray and green. They spun in three circles, remembering the brethren lords of their tribe, the tribe of the Teleri. The outer circle wore rich garments of gray and blue; theybore willow stems in their crowns that draped to where their nimble feet swayed in the wind of the music, in remembrance of Thingol; in the center of all three spun those dressed in gray and white, in whose hair was also braided the feathers of swans, gathered in Nan Tathren to the south, and beads sung also as they turned, taken from the shores of the sea, in remembrance of Olwe who had left, and between those two circled the dancers in gray and green, whose simple headdress of silken leaves of deep green and antlers made of yew wood brought to the mind of all the fallen Elmo, father of Celeborn, Prince of Doriath.

The dance was halted as an oaken staff resounded through the hall with its beatings upon the stone floor, the messenger stepped forward and removed his deep green cloak to reveal the garb of Ossiriand, the many hues of green those people were famous for making, reverberated in that hall filled with ceremonial gray robes. Dior the king stood, and his lady Nimloth also, first bearing a smile upon their faces, which quickly turned to sorrow as a small chest was held forth in the messenger's hands and opened before the face of the king.

The light from the hearth fire became shadowed as though it were not a fire at all but a statue made of red glass, and from that simple wooden chest exhumed a light that shone as the stars at first, gentle, piercing and cold as the bitter wind of winter...Then it grew and changed in many hues from silver white to sea-gray and the green of the woods of Neldoreth...blazing forth as thunder in the first summer rains it grew into ruby and then shimmering rose until it burst into the yellow-gold of the rising sun and finally grew white hot as the fires of the forges that long lay closed...and as the sun sets inthe west it faded back into glorious starlight, shimmering at first and then fading back into the simple chest of wood. Dior the king fell to the ground as he took the chest in his arms, and tears fell upon all who were gathered; the merry dancers removed their joyous headdresses and all heads were bowed down to the ground. The King tore at his robe as his cries filled the grand chamber of Menegroth, and to his side came the queen and her uncle to soothe his mournful crying, for Luthien the most beloved among all the elven kind was gone, never again to meet her people in spirit, forever sundered from her kin by the death of mortality.

And it was afterward written that Dior Eluchil recieved the news of his mother's death alone, for none who stood in Menegroth's halls that night would dare tell of what they saw to the historians of Noldorin blood that came to record their stories, the reason why is know to all who read this and have the heart of the Teler in their breast, and know of their bitter sorrow...

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_Thingolodh- grey wisdom- my translation of sage brush. _

_Elorn- Star Tree, OC and placed as Celeborn's herald. If youve read my other works, Elorn is also the father of Celebrin, who is the main character in the House of Uial and The Journey. _

_last line- in The Ruin of Doriath it is said that Dior recieved the Silmaril alone, this is a diversion from cannon in the sense that sometimes history is seen differently. _


End file.
